Beirut 39: New Writing from the Arab World
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Beirut is the 2009 World Book Capital, as designated by UNESCO, and at the center of the festivities, in collaboration with the world-renowned Hay Festival, is a competition to identify the thirty-nine most promising young talents in Arab literature. The selection of the "Beirut 39" follows the success of a similar competition in the 2007 World Book Capital, Bogotá, celebrating achievements in Latin American literature.This year, for the first time, the winners—nominated by publishers, literary critics, and readers across the Arab world and internationally, and selected by a panel of eminent Arab writers, academics, and journalists—will be published together in a one-of-a-kind anthology. Edited by Samuel Shimon of Banipal magazine, the collection will be published simultaneously in Arabic and English throughout the world by Bloomsbury and Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing.Beirut 39 provides an important look at the Arab-speaking world today, through the eyes of thirty-nine of its brightest young literary stars.Publishers WeeklyThis fascinating collection of pieces by 39 young Arab voices from all over the world was put together by the Hay Festival in celebration of Beirut's 2009 selection as World Book Capital. Incorporating stories, poems, and novel excerpts, the enormously varied lineup includes Abdellah Taia's “The Wounded Man,” about a gay university student in Morocco watching a forbidden French film during Ramadan; an excerpt from Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmad Saadwi, in which a garbage-diver searches for the perfect nose to complete the “hybrid body” he's assembling; and “Haneef from Glasgow” by Mohammad Hassan, in which a Kashmiri immigrant is viewed through the eyes of his Saudi employers' son. Nazem El Sayed contributes delightfully compact revelations in his “Thirteen Poems”; Randa Jarrar takes a tender look at a Palestinian boy in “The Story of My Building”; Hala Kawtharani explores the Beirut of the 1950s and '60s in “Lebanon/Switzerland? Beirut/Paris?” Because they are so involving and diverse, readers may be frustrated by the entries' brevity, though anyone working on their to-read list will find plenty of ideas. (June)
Preface Hanan al-Shaykh vJudges' Announcement xiIntroduction Abdo Wazen xiiiEditor's Note xvfrom the novel Bedouins on the Edge Abdelaziz Errachidi 1from the novel The Trip to the Slaughterhouse Abdelkader Benali 8The Wounded Man Abdellah Taia 17Amazigh Abderrahim Elkhassar 24from the novel Skin of Shadow Abderrazak Boukebba 28from the novel The Twentieth Terrorist Abdullah Thabit 34At the Post Office Adania Shibli 43from the novel Frankenstein in Baghdad Ahmad Saadawi 51eight poems from The Utopia of Cemeteries Ahmad Yamani 57Coexistence Ala Hlehel 62Three Poems Bassim al Ansar 68Two Stories Dima Wannous 72Mimouna Faïza Guène 82Three Stories Hala Kawtharani 92from the novel Secret Pleasures Hamdy el Gazzar 98from the novel The Last Hanging Poem Hussein al Abri 109Three Poems Hussein Jelaad 118Layla's Belly Hyam Yared 123Who Are You Carrying That Rose For? Islam Samhan 128from the poem 'The Geology of the I' in The Book of J Joumana Haddad 131from the novel The Scalpel Kamel Riahi 137from the novel The Threshold of Ashes Mansour El Souwaim 146The Path to Madness Mansoura Ez Eldin 155Haneef from Glasgow Mohammad Hassan Alwan 161A Boat That Dislikes the Riverbank Mohammad Salah al Azab 168four poems from Like the Blade of a Knife Nagat Ali 175The Pools and the Piano Najwa Binshatwan 182Six Poems Najwan Darwish 194Thirteen Poems Nazem El Sayed 198from the novel America Rabee Jaber 204The Story of My Building Randa Jarrar 215Guardians of the Air Rosa Yassin Hassan 223from the novel The Scent of Cinnamon Samar Yezbek 230Nine Poems Samer Abou Hawwash 237A Crime in Mataeem Street Wajdi al Ahdal 242from the novel Raven's Leg Yahya Amqassim 255Two Stories Yassin Adnan 264Suicide 20, or The Hakimi Maqama Youssef Rakha 272Nine Poems Zaki Baydoun 282Notes on the Text 287Notes on the Authors 295Notes on the Translators 301
